Hoffmann, R. A wiki for the life sciences where authorship matters. Nature Genetics (2008)

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Lu, D. et al.

Desheng Lu, Jerry X. Liu, Tomoyuki Endo, Haowen Zhou, Shiyin Yao, Karl Willert, Ingo G. H. Schmidt-Wolf, Thomas J. Kipps, Dennis A. Carson,

Ethacrynic acid exhibits selective toxicity to chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells by inhibition of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway.

BACKGROUND: Aberrant activation of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling promotes the development of several cancers. It has been demonstrated that the Wnt signaling pathway is activated in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells, and that uncontrolled Wnt/beta-catenin signaling may contribute to the defect in apoptosis that characterizes this malignancy. Thus, the Wnt signaling pathway is an attractive candidate for developing targeted therapies for CLL. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The diuretic agent ethacrynic acid (EA) was identified as a Wnt inhibitor using a cell-based Wnt reporter assay. In vitro assays further confirmed the inhibitory effect of EA on Wnt/beta-catenin signaling. Cell viability assays showed that EA selectively induced cell death in primary CLL cells. Exposure of CLL cells to EA decreased the expression of Wnt/beta-catenin target genes, including LEF-1, cyclin D1 and fibronectin. Immune co-precipitation experiments demonstrated that EA could directly bind to LEF-1 protein and destabilize the LEF-1/beta-catenin complex. N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC), which can react with the alpha, beta-unsaturated ketone in EA, but not other anti-oxidants, prevented the drug's inhibition of Wnt/beta-catenin activation and its ability to induce apoptosis in CLL cells. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our studies indicate that EA selectively suppresses CLL survival due to inhibition of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling. Antagonizing Wnt signaling in CLL with EA or related drugs may represent an effective treatment of this disease.[1]

References

Ethacrynic acid exhibits selective toxicity to chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells by inhibition of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway. Lu, D., Liu, J.X., Endo, T., Zhou, H., Yao, S., Willert, K., Schmidt-Wolf, I.G., Kipps, T.J., Carson, D.A. PLoS. ONE (2009) [Pubmed]

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